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Saturday, September 15, 2007

Carrot or stick?


Many organizations are faced with situations where they can take a carrot or stick approach with members or employees.

Too many choose the stick and then wonder why they meet resistance.

Let me ask, if you a dealing with customers or clients would you make the same choice? Would you even consider punishing customers? (Well if you were really considering your policies mindfully that is.)

Yet, often, organizations choose to punish members or employees who don't follow "the rules". For example, in requiring training or during a hastily conceived change.

What might be gained if organizations enticed members and employees to attend needed training or to embrace a change?

Treat your members and employees to a carrot more often than a stick. You may be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Mackinac Bridge 50th Anniversary Walk



On Monday my wife Sharon & I walked the Mackinac Bridge with about 80,000 other people from all over the world. It is an annual event held every Labor Day (the only day pedestrians are allowed on the bridge). It is the quintessential Michigan occasion. This year is the Mighty Mac's 50th anniversary.

Back before the bridge was completed in 1957 a fleet of ferries took people and their vehicles across the straits of Mackinac between Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

The ferry trip took about an hour and the average wait time for a ferry was 2 hours. There were longer waits than that during times like deer season (another big Michigan event). Many times no one could cross because of bad weather or ice, which stopped ferry service in the winter.

After the bridge, the entire crossing took only about 10 minutes with only rare closings due to weather.

No matter how many ferries, no matter how efficient the process, the ferry crossing would never have gotten as short as 10 minutes.

It took a completely new approach. A bridge.

There was a need to Do Something...Different!....to get radically different results.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

"...I had this crazy opportunity to do something different."


So said Ashley Qualls (age 17) of Southgate, Michigan, the founder of whateverlife.com. She's an average 17 year old (yeah right!) who happens to be featured in this month's (September 2007) Fast Company magazine. Pretty normal event in the avereage 17 year old's life, right?

Well maybe not.

Here is someone with a business making $800,000+ a year that she started at age 15 from NOTHING. She borrowed the $8.00 for a domain name from her Mom.

So what's your rationalization for not starting something (or mine for that matter).

Check out the article about Ashley here. and here. and here.
and here. and here.

Do Something...Different!